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User blog:Julia-B184/Civil War - Part Six
December 1, 2578 X-COM Headquarters, Mandalore "We can't let something like this happen again." Bradford was saying, Dr. Vahlen and other highly-ranked operatives in the room with them. "The mission didn't go well." "We got the info." Idun reminded him. "Yes, but we also lost an operative, handing over information of our own to ADVENT." Vahlen cut in. "Not to mention the complete lack of subtlety." Qrow added disapprovingly. "You guys had time. There were better ways to go about it than rush in and get one of your operatives killed." "They must have eyes on the inside somehow." Vera spoke up, gaining their attention. "At a facility like that, there should have been six troopers at most. We ended up fighting sixteen, one of them a Captain. Throw in a Knight of Ren, and there's no way that was a coincidence." "No matter how fast it is, your dropship isn't exactly cutting-edge stealth. And you were flying in ADVENT skies." Qrow shot back. "It wasn't as subtle as you think it was." "You don't send a Knight of Ren out to respond to a dropship!" Idun glared at Qrow. "It could have been standard Mandalorian military for all they knew, and clearly they knew better." "With a performance like yours, you'd be lucky to be considered standard Mandalorian." He snarked in return. "Turns out running in guns blazing is a terrible idea." Idun sighed and composed herself. "Yes. I know. We could have come up with a better plan... waited till night, looked for patrols, there are plenty of ways it could have gone better." Her self-control convinced Qrow to listen to her. "But my point here is that the security detail was far too large. They were waiting for something elite. Like us." "It's always possible they had scouts of some kind." Vera pointed out. "Civilian disguises, maybe, or simple camouflage. Our dropship is pretty distinct in appearance, and it's well armed." "We definitely have a problem dealing with informants and hidden scouts." Bradford summarized, earning nods from most present. "But I think we need to face the possibility that they simply have enough Knights and Dames of Ren to deploy in an instant for threats like that." "Expansion of X-COM operations could always spread them a little thinner." Qrow noted. "We have more than one dropship, too. This trick might only work once, but we could send one as a decoy and send the real team in a bit after." Vera suggested. "Might have to save that for the most important mission." Idun spoke up to her sister. "But we can always find other ways to deploy, as well. With the Warframes on their way some opportunities should open up." "Then we've agreed to work on our infiltration strategy a little more." Bradford said to them all, again earning nods of assent. "If that's the case, Arendals, you ought to check on Merrik and brief the other operatives on our change in tactics. Meanwhile we'll work on getting Qrow behind enemy lines." The Arendal sisters stood up, saluted, and walked to the elevator, the doors closing as Bradford turned back to Qrow. "So, about your mission." December 3, 2578 ADVENT Territories, Mandalore Qrow had found himself walking with a great deal of other people, local Mandalorians and foreginers alike, to enter the ADVENT territories. It was only a couple of days since he'd finally arrived on the planet, making a quick stop by the X-COM Headquarters to drop off his weapon and other gear and enter the enemy territory. True to the mission, Qrow held nothing on him that would give him away as an agent of Wilson. Surely they'd be able to identify him as a man from Helios, but he'd rehearsed the story of being a journalist hoping to cover the Mandalorian Civil War. And he could always change course and play himself off as the drunken fool, since he had his flask with him at all times. The checkpoints to ADVENT territory were mainly built around cities - after all, to establish them in the wild with no roads or other supply lines would be a waste of resources begging for an attack. The line Qrow was in could have been worse, all things considered, and someone had pestered him to bring his coat with him in case something like this had happened. He half-thanked them in his mind with a backhanded compliment. "Next." An ADVENT trooper gestured to Qrow, waving him along to check his credentials. "Qrow Branwen, from Helios." Qrow opened his wallet and handed it over to show the only slightly fabricated ID. "I'm a lone journalist, I'd like to cover some things about ADVENT for sake of awareness." "Just a minute." The trooper made a quick call to a superior or other, relaying what Qrow had said. He then turned to the supposed journalist and handed his wallet back. "Alright, step through the scanner." He did as the trooper requested, walking through the scanner. He heard a low monotone sound as it searched, but a green light gave him clearance to step on through. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Qrow continued to the trooper waiting on the other side of the scanner. "Just go through the building over there to get everything double-checked and sorted." He directed. "Last-second scans, maps, things like that. They've also got some free cocoa if you want it." Nodding to the trooper, Qrow was already processing this new information as he headed to the final part of his transition into the ADVENT lands. Affable troopers, free cocoa, even his entry seemed like it was going to be shockingly easy for a stranger from Helios. Granted, the latter two seemed obvious - of course you'd assign your nicer people where the first impressions will be, and cocoa wasn't exactly expensive. As Qrow walked past a shieldbearer and into the main building, he stretched his arms and checked the time on his watch just for something to do while he waited in the next line. Category:Blog posts